Reflections
by A Terrible Person
Summary: Coraline and her Other Father muse before a rather catastrophic fight. Bit of a rewrite of his fight scene since I thought it went by too fast. Rated for disturbing imagery. Don't fave without reviewing, and don't read without it either, please.


She decided she was going to get the worst out of the way and go to the garden first. His sanctuary. Her Other Father's.

There was an odd sort of twinge in her heart that almost made her not want to hurt him. He was her Other Father, after all. He was horribly kind, polite, and funny.

But she just reminded herself, that is exactly what he is supposed to be. He's a puppet, nothing more.

As she walked to it, the garden looked... Duller. Some of the flowers were crushed, slashed, and wilted, and the rest, the color simply seemed grayer than it was before. But there was an odd thing she noticed. A steady glowing emitting from the flowers, just enough to make it noticable. It went on and off slowly, like... A pulse. A weak one, too.

But she continued on. The were large parts were flowers were mowed down, as if slashed by some sort of knife. Others were smashed, broken, pulled out, and just plain dead.

"I really, _really_ hate it when she gets mad."

Coraline jumped. Sitting about 10 feet ahead of her was the Other Father, back turned to her and stitching his flowers back together in front of the little pond.

"Sorry. I frightened you, didn't I?" he said, hand raising up and lowering with the needle and thread in a steady motion, sewing his flowers back to life. "It's just she always takes it out on me. Not the ring leader. Not the actresses. Just me, her poor husband." he sighed. "I don't fancy myself that easy of a target, you know. And if it's not me, it's _my_ garden! I made all these flowers _myself_. It's _my_ part of the world, and she thinks to destroy it whenever _she_ sees fit."

She couldn't help but take a better look at him. His hair was tangled, and the back of his robe revealed rips and tears, some with an odd black substance leaking from them that she could only assume was whatever substituted for blood in this world. "You have one of the souls, right? Can you give it to me?" Coraline asked, stepping forward.

"Not another step, kiddo." the Other Father said, pointing the needle at her, not even turning around. Coraline flinched. "She's order me to attack you as soon as I see you. And no, I can't give you the soul without looking at you, either." he went back to sewing his flowers. "You have to win it fair and square from me."

"... You.. Don't want to hurt me?" Coraline pieced it together slowly. The pulsing from the flowers quickened for a second.

"Of course not, Coraline. You're my daughter and I love you, and that's the truth." he said. The pulse evened back into it's slow and steadied.

Coraline sat down in the dead and dying flowers, arms crossed. "Prove it."

He stopped his craftsmanship for a second. "Proof... The Other Wybie. He would've gotten a lot worse than the stitches if it wasn't for me. Though I imagine it still gravely hurt..."

Coraline raised an eyebrow.

"But I convinced her that he wasn't worth killing over. So she just gave him the smile..."

"Well, that was nice of you, but---"

"It didn't last, though." he said. His voice was cracking, the pulsing sped up. "When she found out he let you out, she... Was very cross with him. Very, _very_ cross indeed."

Coraline was too stunned to move.

"She showed no mercy. None. She just turned into her spider form and... Ripped him to shreds."

Coraline stifled a cry.

"I wanted to stop her, you know. But I was too much of a coward. But it was too much like the children..."

Coraline paused. "What about the kids?"

"Oh, she keeps them for a while. Let's them have their fun while the pain from the buttons wears off. Then... One day, you feel weak. Sick. You stumble to her to tell her you don't feel well. And she..."

"K-... Kills you?"

"Well, yes. A single stab when she knows you're weak. She's drained you by then, you know, and it's an instant kill. Usually. From what I've seen. Then, she just... Eats you. Tears into you until nothing is left but your soul. I am imagine she'll get you as soon as the buttons are on you. I highly doubt will happen though. I have faith in you."

Coraline felt a rather large lump in her throat.

"She throws the soul to someone who can keep it safe. It makes her more powerful, fuels the world. When you remove the souls from their holders, like me, this world becomes more simpler. And a whole lot smaller... But it's not worth it. Sometimes... I can still see them. The buttons falling off, their eyes underneath bleeding, dulled... the blood just dripping on the floor... _Drip... Drip... Drip_..." He swallowed hard. "I don't want to see that happen to you, Coraline. I don't want to see the light faded from your eyes...." he picked up a pair of scissors and cut the thread from the flower.

"I---... I didn't know... Did she... Do this to you?" Coraline said, trying to vanquish the image of the dying children from her mind.

"Well, yes. I tried to tell her I wasn't going to be a part of this anymore. But she still needed me. To give you a challenge, she said. And here I am, bruised and bloodied up, all for you, kiddo."

The only thought Coraline could manage was "Poor him." Other Father, personal punching bag of the Otherworld, protector of children (To the best of his abilities), otherkind and otherwise. Against her better judgment, she got up and walked forward. She had to try and get the soul, even if it meant... Destroying him.

"You know what's been bugging me since Wybie di--was ki---" he couldn't even choke it out. Too painful. He took a shuddering sort of breath. "Was destroyed? If there's an afterlife for us. I mean, we were created just to bait the children in while she... Took care of the dirty work. We're almost like extensions of her. But we're all good at heart, every one of us, from me to the actresses."

Coraline stopped walking. "But you can talk and think for on your own. So I'd say you're your own person, created by a Spider-beast or no." she continued walking, slowly, getting near the pond. "And if Other Wybie could stand up to her, so can you." she reached the pond now, staring at her reflection in the deep, dark looking water, the scattered lily pads floating around lazily, the only part seemingly untouched by the Other Mother's rage.

He clawed at the ground.

"Alas, I cannot." he choked out. The pulsing was out of control now, flashing faster and harder than ever.

Her reflection. He could see it.

And suddenly there was a pair of scissors at her throat, and they were staring at each other, button-to-eyes, his glasses lopsided and cracked, his face in horror and ashamed of what he was being forced to do. He didn't want to hurt her. With all his heart, he wanted to protect her, to take care of her. To love her. Half his body was pulling up, to pursue her, the other half was pulling him up, to protect her.

"Flee now, Coraline." he said in a hushed voice.

She followed his orders, and ran off, the dead and dying flowers crunching beneath her feet, the pulsing reaching a fever pitch.

* * *

**It's all Other Wybie and his real world counterpart. What about Coraline's other ally? Sure, we never got to see what happened to happened to Wybie, but I'd say Other Father got the short end of the stick in the movie. I mean, jeez, imagine being forced to harm your own daughter, and you can't do a thing about it. In the book, too, but Wybie does not exist there.**

**My ranting aside, see Coraline. It's heartwarming, heartstring pulling, it's sad, it's happy, it's fun, it's just what childhood was. So give it a whirl, you will not be disapointed.  
**


End file.
